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Alexander McCurdy
Alexander McCurdy Jr. (August 18, 1905 in Eureka, California – June 1, 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an organist and educator who taught a generation of America's most-prominent performers. Education and family After overcoming early struggles with infantile paralysis, McCurdy moved east to study organ with T. Tertius Noble. Dr. Noble was unable to take any more students and so suggested that McCurdy study instead with the great Lynnwood Farnam, first in New York (1924–1927) and then in Philadelphia's newly established Curtis Institute of Music. In 1931, McCurdy became one of the Institute's earliest graduates, and received his diploma at the first official commencement ceremony in 1934. He had already made his professional concert debut at New York's Town Hall in 1926, and thereafter toured as a recitalist, often in duo performances with his wife since 1932, harpist Flora Greenwood. They had two children, Alexander "Sandy" McCurdy III (a prominent minister and psych ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtis Institute Of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. History The Curtis Institute of Music was founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok. She named the new school for her father, publishing magnate Cyrus Curtis. Early faculty at the institute included conductor Leopold Stokowski and the pianist Josef Hofmann. The institute has not charged tuition since 1928; it provides full scholarship to all admitted students. In 2020, following credible allegations of abuse at the hands of past faculty, the school ended its practice of keeping students enrolled "at the discretion of their major instrument teacher". In accepting the findings of an independent investigation of abuse allegations that found the practice was a "real threat" a student "could be dismissed for any reason at any time", Curtis pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Young (composer)
Gordon Young (October 15, 1919 – October 2, 1998) was an American organist and composer of both organ and choral works. Biography Gordon Young was born in McPherson, Kansas on October 15, 1919. He earned a bachelor's degree in music at Southwestern College, Winfield. He then began studying organ with Alexander McCurdy at the Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ..., Philadelphia. References External links * * 1919 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century organists 20th-century American male musicians Composers for pipe organ American composers American male composers American classical organists People from McPherson, Kansas American male classical organists Southwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphonic Organ
The symphonic organ is a style of pipe organ that flourished during the first three decades of the 20th century in town halls and other secular public venues, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has roots in 19th-century Europe, and is a variation of the classical pipe organ. It features expanded capabilities, with many pipes imitative of orchestral instruments (e.g., strings, woodwinds, brass), and with multiple expressive divisions and organ console controls for seamlessly adjusting volume and tone, generally with electric organ actions and winding. These expansions let the organist approximate a conductor's power to shape the tonal textures of Romantic music and orchestral transcriptions. (These are classical orchestral works re-scored for a solo organist, a practice particularly popular before technology allowed orchestras to be widely recorded and broadcast.) These organs are generally concert instruments as opposed to church organs. The symphonic or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Turk
Gordon Turk (born 1949) is an American concert organist. He has played throughout the United States, made two concert tours in Japan, and performed frequently in Europe, including Ukraine and Russia, both as solo organist and with orchestra. Early years and education The son of a Methodist minister in New Jersey, Turk began piano studies at age five and then organ when he was ten years old. He graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano and organ. He also studied with New York composer and organist McNeil Robinson at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, earning the master's degree and the Doctor of Musical Arts, both with honors. He is a former Professor of Organ at West Chester University (1992–1999) and in 2013 became professor of organ instruction at Rowan University. Professional career Turk is particularly well known as resident organist of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Since he took this post in 1974, the famed Rober ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Tuttle (organist)
John Tuttle (born January 17, 1946 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is an organist and choral conductor living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada."John Tuttle" ''''. He is currently director of music at , and professor of organ and university organist at the ,. He is also the found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Spicer (organist)
David Charles Spicer (December 26, 1946 – January 18, 2017) was an American organist and church musician. He was Minister of Music and the Arts at the First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he co-founded the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival USA and directed it from 1997 to 2015. Life and career A native of Austin, Texas, Spicer was a 1968 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was an Artist/Scholar under Alexander McCurdy and a devotee of Virgil Fox. Spicer received his first musical training from his parents, performing on the organ in church at the early age of eight. While at Curtis, Spicer was a classmate and friend of the organist colleague, Dr. Keith Chapman (organist for the famed John Wanamaker organ, center city Philadelphia, PA). Spicer also completed Graduate studies at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, PA. From 1967 to about 1982, Spicer was Organist-Choirmaster at the Wayne Presbyterian Church ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keith Chapman (organist)
Keith Chapman (1945–1989) was an American concert organist known best for his flair at playing in the symphonic style of organ performance, and particularly for his long and distinguished association (1966–1989) with the Wanamaker's Department Store of Philadelphia as the principal organist of the Wanamaker Organ. Early history Chapman was born on July 16, 1945 in San Bruno, California and grew up in San Bruno, California. An organ prodigy, he began formal study at age 5 with S. Leslie Grow, a student of Marcel Dupré. Chapman was the accompanist to the Capuchino High School Concert Choir while it was directed by Otto Mielenz. Having studied with Richard Purvis, the organist at the time of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Chapman eventually took up post there as Assistant Organist. Chapman came to Philadelphia where he attended the Curtis Institute of Music from 1964 to 1968, studying organ under Alexander McCurdy who had also been Purvis's teacher. Chapman received a mas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George W
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. While in his twenties, Bush flew warplanes in the Texas Air National Guard. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry. In 1978, Bush unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball before he was elected governor of Texas in 1994. As governor, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed the criminal justice system. He also helped make Texas the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the nation. In the 2000 presidential election, Bush defeated Democratic incum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Lippincott
Joan Lippincott (born December 25, 1935) is an American concert organist and former head of the organ department at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. She was born Joan Edna Hult on December 25, 1935, the daughter of Edna and Frank Hult, in Kearny, New Jersey. Her early keyboard studies were with William Jancovius of Nutley, New Jersey. After attending Kearny High School, she entered Westminster Choir College, where she studied with the renowned Alexander McCurdy. Upon graduation from Westminster Choir College, she gained entrance to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was again the student of Alexander McCurdy as well as Vladimir Sokoloff. Following her Diploma from the Curtis Institute, she returned to Westminster Choir College to earn her master's degree. At the same time, she was hired by McCurdy to join the keyboard faculty at Westminster, starting what would become her 37-year tenure. On June 18, 1960, she married Curtis Lippincott i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple Painter
Temple Painter (June 14, 1933 – August 6, 2016) was an American harpsichordist and organist. He was born in 1933 in Pulaski, Virginia. Temple Painter performed as solo organist with members of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center under Hermann Scherchen, as harpsichord soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and as solo harpsichordist for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He performed as solo pianist, harpsichordist and organist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and concertized extensively in the United States, Europe and Israel. His 1962 critically acclaimed recording "Temple Painter-Harpsichord Recital" on the Artia-Parliament label was cited by ''The New York Times'' in 1964 as "the most satisfying" of the five harpsichord recordings reviewed that year. He also recorded the harpsichord music of American composer Harold Boatrite and can be heard as harpsichord soloist and continuo player in Handel's "Roman Vespers" recorded by the Philadel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Owen (organist)
Barbara J. Owen (born January 25, 1933) is an American organist and organ scholar. Born in Utica, New York, Owen attended Westminster Choir College, studying organ and receiving a bachelor's degree in music in 1955; from Boston University in 1962 she received her master's degree, in musicology. Among her instructors were Edward Broadhead, Alexander McCurdy, and George Faxon. In 1975 and 1977 she took summer classes at the North German Organ Academy; in 1985 she attended a similar course at the Academy of Italian Organ Music. In 1982 she received the Choir Master certificate from the American Guild of Organists. Owen began her performing career at a variety of churches in Connecticut and Massachusetts soon after graduating from Westminster; in 1963 she took a position in Newburyport, Massachusetts, becoming Music Director of the First Religious Society Unitarian Church. There she remained until retirement in 2002, in which year she took up an appointment at St. Anne's Episco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
